Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Jailhouse Rock

I don't usually blog on news, but this just really stood out to me today.

So sad to see the newest trend for teen idols. I pulled up the news this morning and on the front -dead center- was Lindsey Lohan and her most recent DUI.
After scanning the latest headlines, I went to take a bath and Matthew had the TV on in the other room. Listening over the filling tub, they were using this piece of news as the big headline of the day. Seriously, during the twenty minutes I was soaking, they repeated it every two to three and then did spotlights on her and the situation with analysts. As they talked they were showing the same pictures of her over and over again. How could I see them you may ask (as I was in the tub)? Because they described the picture... every time.

"Here is a picture of Lohan in happier times with a surfboard and ankle bracelet..."

I don't know about you, but I didn't realize that "happier times" and "ankle bracelet" went together.

Honestly, I feel for these misguided teen idols who seem to escape through a partying atmosphere. I just wonder (as I'm sure many people do) what this does to the girls who look up to them.

Is it better for them to see these celebs and then they just drop out of view (as so many young actors have done before) - OR - to see what all the paryting leads them too (jail, rehab, etc.)?

Either way, it's a sad reality in the world we live in and leaves me to wonder what's next, but also thanking God that He is a constant in such a changing damaging world.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Retro Blog

I've decided to repost my first blog because... well, I have nothing better to do at the moment.



Blog! Me? When?
I can't believe it. I have a blog account... Will I actually use it?
I guess that remains to be seen.

First Decision in this new adventure... What to name it... ?
Let's face it, there are way to many choices and yet none that seem to work for me. So I did what any other person who's feeling void of any creative vibs at 12:00 on a Sunday night would do... I ran a search on "blog names" - Oh yeah! That should really help... not. Oh, don't get me wrong there were lots of ideas... Lots of freakishly odd, out there ideas-but as easy as it might be to tag myself as the Neon Blazzer, none of these seemed to fit.

So, how does someone who hasn't touched a musical instrument since graduation in 1986 end up with the word "unplugged" in it?
Simple... OK, not totally simple, but try to follow along.

I started thinking about what I would want my blog to be.
It would have to be a place that I can disconnect from life and just process thoughts. *Which brings me to an entirely different question... do I really want to make this public? I'll tackle that another time. For now, I'll stick with the "private/draft" feature.*

Where was I? Oh yeah, disconnect from my life, yadda, yadda, yadda-process thoughts, etc. Got it.
The next step was to figure out what my life feels like and what it might be like to take a step back for a few minutes. That's pretty easy. Most of the time I feel like my mind is going 190 mph. So fast, I can hardly keep up. While I'm working on one thing, I have at least two other thoughts on my mind, something else I'm trying to remember, but getting distracted by something I don't want to forget. (I guess that explains the Ritilan in the cabinet.)

To wrap it all up, I feel like my thoughts/mind need to be unplugged every now and then. I just need to be able to ramble. <- Now if that doesn't leave you screaming for more, I don't know what will.

Seriously, I was inspired by another good friend of ours that we totally respect. He began his first blog session. His is much more spiritual and deeply insightful than mine, but I'm hoping to get there one day. Thanks for the inspiration Hector!

That's enough for now. It's nearing one and I still have to figure out how to save this so I don't have to start over. Well, that and I want to figure out what this "mood selector" does. So if you read this and it sounds "impressed, geeky, or grateful" then I still don't know what I'm doing.

In Him,
Tammy

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Lessons from the animal kingdom...

Dads, this is exactly why moms need a break when you come home...




We cannot run... we cannot hide.... we are followed everywhere!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Sum-sum-summertime...

OK then... It's July and I am soooo ready for a break from school.
This is the difficult part of being a homeschooler (for me anyway). I'm not a very disciplined person - I know, complete shocker, right? But I digress, some parents can stay right on track and are very regimented. They start on a particular day (picked out the year before, no doubt) and finish their school year on a certain day (again, previously planned). My world does not work like that.
Don't get me wrong, we work hard, but not super systematically.
One of the wonderful blessings of homeschooling is that you know your child and what they need. One of the most difficult parts of homeschooling is that you know your child and what they need, ergo -and here's the catch- it's up to you to provide it... all! Even when that means working throughout the summer, when you're completely, totally burnt out, ready for a break and mamaneedsavacation syndrome has firmly set in.

It's times like this that I totally need God to remind me that I really love what I do with the boys (errr... young men). I think I'm also a little overwhelmed at the thought of one graduating next month - yes, that's August. Remember, not disciplined, systematic, blah, blah, blah...

This is where the rubber meets the road. Where I have to trust in God to fix whatever I may have screwed up over the years. According to most polls that are out there today my kids will be in therapy for something... at least I gave them something to talk about.
All right, it hasn't been that bad. The reality is that I'm not naive enough to think I did it perfectly. The only thing I can be sure of is that we followed His calling to educate our kids at home.

Anytime I've read blogs about homeschoolers graduating there's lots of "pomp and circumstance", celebrating and the like.
As with so many things, all I can do is sit and think of all the ways I "could/should" have done things differently.

Take care,
Tammy